Apple this week finally updated the MacBook Pro line with Intel's Haswell chips and, with the laptops already on shelves, the teardown team at iFixit has wasted no time in tearing into Apple's newest machines. In fact, they've already done full teardowns of both the 15-inch MacBook Pro and the 13-inch model.
The 15-inch model maintained its 1/10 repairability score from last year. Though it isn't too different from the 2012 model, iFixit reports that it is actually harder to fix. The example they give: If you want to replace the audio jack, you now have to replace the entire logic board. Burn!
Other highlights include the PCIe-based SSD instead of the mSATA solution we saw in the 2012 model. There's also a new heat sink with one thermal pad, a new AirPort card with support for 802.11 ac, a Haswell CPU (of course), Intel's Iris graphics, an Intel DSL5520 Thunderbolt 2 controller, and Elpida J4208EFBG 512 MB DDR3 SDRAM (16 chips for 8 GB total).
The 13-inch model is a bit more interesting given it's received more of an upgrade than the 15-inch model. Like the 15-inch, it sounds like the 13-inch model is harder to fix than ever. The battery is still stuck down, and the trackpad is glued under that glued-in battery AND protected by a metal plate (and that's glued down, too!). Aside from a lot of glue, the guys at iFixit found just one fan, a slightly smaller battery (a few Wh down now to 71.8 Wh), a shared pad on the heat sink for the CPU and GPU, and a MagSafe 2 port with its own connector (which means it can be replaced on its own).
For all the gory details, head over to iFixit and check out the full gallery of photos as well as the step-by-step repair instructions (MacBook Pro 13, MacBook Pro 15).
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